Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 28: (Hydro) Gels and Elastomers

CPP 28.9: Talk

Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 12:00–12:15, ZEU 222

Effect and Evolution of Nanostructural Complexity in Sensitive Polymer Gels — •Sebastian Seiffert — Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin — Freie Universität Berlin

Sensitive gels consist of polymer networks that can react to changes in their environment. This is achieved by two different ways. One way is to use polymers that exhibit sensitive interactions with the surrounding solvent, leading to selective gel swelling and deswelling. Another way is to use gels that consist of polymers crosslinked by non-covalent bonds that can be broken and re-associated. Both classes of sensitive gels are established and used in applications. However, to make this truly useful, it is necessary to understand the relations between the gel structure, dynamics, and function.

Our group studies such relations by two complementary approaches. In one approach, we use droplet-based microfluidics to fabricate microgel particles with exquisite control on their nm-scale homogeneity. This allows us to impart custom inhomogeneities to these gel particles, offering their impact to be studied, for example, in view of microgel volume phase transitions. We also use microgels as building blocks to assemble larger gel-type materials with determined inhomogeneity. In a second approach, we create and use modular toolboxes of supramolecular polymer gels, allowing for consistent variation of the type and strength of transient chain crosslinking. These networks are probed by micro- and macrorheology to challenge and develop models for supramolecular gel self healing.